Doctor Who?

From Warren Ellis' [BAD SIGNAL] newsletter:

Word is that Sci-Fi Channel declined to acquire this
new DOCTOR WHO series. And I can see why.
It's too damned English. As Rich Johnston said to
me tonight, it's your actual English family sci-fi
show. There's no way it'd fit on Sci-Fi. I imagine, to
be honest, it's going to bypass much of the American
audience, and possibly even the gap between my
generation and my daughter's generation.


Must we Americans always "Americanize" everything? [and lest I forget, the Japanese are equal offenders]. The idea that all of our TV must have American accents is absurd. Many great shows on cable are hits.

I grew up watching Doctor Who on PBS - this was before real cable - and I think it's a damn shame that Sci-Fi Channel doesn't recognize that genre fans want to see this stuff. If I were the BBC, I would rake in the money with a handsome DVD set with lots of behind-the-scenes material, especially commentaries. This is a character that has a rich history (in the UK and here in the states) and the idea that someone out there in the heartland isn't going to know who "The Doctor" is in the upcoming generation is kind of sickening.

Are we that insular that we can't accept an accent, a look or a theme? Gawd, I hope not.

BBC - go direct to DVD and tell Sci-Fi to shove it.